Malaysia-based VCI Global to acquire $100M of OOB tokens from Tether-backed Oobit

VCI Global, a Malaysia-based technology consulting firm, has announced major plans to acquire $100 million worth of OOB tokens from Oobit, a Tether-backed crypto payment platform. The company announced that Tether will emerge as the largest shareholder of VCIG following the closing of the transaction.

VCI Global announced on Tuesday that the transaction aims to expand the entity’s footprint in the DeFi space, supporting blockchain-powered projects, AI features, and fintech within its Nasdaq-listed governance framework.

The firm’s announcement detailed that VCI Global had already settled a transaction worth $50 million to acquire OOB tokens through a restricted share issuance to the OOB Foundation. According to the announcement, VCI Global will complete the remaining $50 million transaction to purchase OOB tokens after the token goes public.

Tether on track to be VCI Global’s largest shareholder

The company also announced that Tether will become its largest shareholder upon completion of the transaction. Moshe Schisser, Chairman of Oobit, briefed on the matter, stating that the transaction is more than a crypto-oriented deal. Schisser explained that the deal is part of a significant step aimed at “expanding the real-world utility and growth of the Oobit ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Oobit’s ambition to rebrand and expand its reach in the digital ecosystem has led to new developments involving significant on-chain migration. The crypto platform announced on November 9 that Oobit is migrating OBT from the Ethereum mainnet to the Solana blockchain.

The firm noted that the migration will roll out in successive stages, including the opening of the migration portal on November 9 and its continuous operation for 10 days. Afterwards, the official token generation event and snapshot are scheduled to happen on November 12. The migration portal will close on November 19, paving the way for the OOB airdrop to eligible wallets.

In July, the firm announced plans to incentivize the adoption of stablecoins with refunds, thereby extending its partnership deal with StablR.

Cryptopolitan reported that Oobit announced plans to integrate MiCA-compliant and Tether-backed StablREUR and StablRUSD stablecoins to create a platform conducive to secure crypto payments. The announcement also claimed users will receive 5% cashback on every USDR and EURR purchase.

Oobit is backed by major players, including Tether, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, CMCC Global, and 468 Capital. Earlier this year, Oobit received $25 million from Tether in a Series A funding round, which was concluded by the stablecoin issuer to support ongoing cryptocurrency development and promote mainstream cryptocurrency adoption.

The Series A funding round was led by Tether’s investment arm and attracted participation from pivotal industry leaders and strategic investors. Notable contributors in the funding round include CMCC Global’s Titan Fund, 468 Capital, and Anatoly Yakovenko.

Tether expands outside stablecoin issuing

Tether is the largest stablecoin issuer, commanding a market share of $183 billion at the time of this publication. Tether’s transparency page shows that the majority of USDT tokens are minted on the Ethereum network, followed by Tron and Solana. Notably, the crypto giant has set strategic investments to expand its reach outside stablecoin issuance.

On Monday, video platform Rumble announced plans to acquire German AI cloud company Northern Data in a deal worth more than $760 million. The company listed Tether as one of its major investors.

Tether also acquired a minor stake in Spanish crypto asset platform Bit2Me in August to expand its presence in the EU and Latin America. The stablecoin issuer’s effort to expand outside of crypto has held steady.

In October, the company ranked among the top 20 global holders of U.S. debt after declaring U.S. Treasuries exposure worth $135 billion and $10 billion YTD profit. The firm ranks higher than sovereign holders, such as South Korea. Tether’s Q3 announcement also revealed that the company has gold reserves worth $12.9 billion and $9.9 billion in Bitcoin.